Sagittarius

Meaning

Sagittarius is the ninth sign of the zodiac, from 240° to 270°, the last stretch of northern autumn before the December solstice. It is fire in its mutable form, ruled by Jupiter, and astrologers read it as the sign of the search for meaning: the arrow aimed beyond the horizon, the journey, the question of what it all adds up to.

A planet in Sagittarius tends to think big, to speak frankly and to learn by going and seeing. Mutable fire is a flame that travels: it spreads enthusiasm, takes risks on what might be, and adapts readily as long as it keeps its freedom. Its gifts are optimism, generosity, honesty and a gift for teaching, for making a wide view shared.

Its difficulties come with that reach: promises bigger than the time to keep them, bluntness that forgets how a truth will land, restlessness when things settle, conviction that slips into preaching. The opposite sign, Gemini, gathers the many facts that Sagittarius would sum up in one meaning; the pair is read as the axis of information and understanding.

Tradition counts Sagittarius among the double-bodied signs, the Archer being half human and half horse. No planet is exalted or in fall here in the traditional scheme; Mercury, at ease with detail rather than with grand views, is in its detriment.

In practice

• The Sun in Sagittarius, from around 22 November to 21 or 22 December (the day shifts from year to year): a sense of self found by exploring, studying and believing in something.
• The Moon in Sagittarius: feelings that need space and movement; comfort comes from humour, open air and a sense of future.
• Sagittarius rising, on the Ascendant: an open, frank first impression. Jupiter rules the chart, so its sign, house and aspects show where that search leads.
• Jupiter in Sagittarius is in its domicile, generous and far-seeing. Mercury in Sagittarius, in detriment, grasps the whole quickly and may have to slow down for the details.
• Sagittarius on a house cusp: that area of life is treated as room to explore and grow, with more vision than caution.

Across traditions

• Jyotish calls the sign Dhanu, the bow, and gives it to Jupiter; measured from the stars, it begins about 24° further on, and the Sun enters it around 16 December.
• Human Design places five gates wholly in Sagittarius, 34, 9, 5, 26 and 11, with the edges of gates 14 and 10.
• The Chinese calendar opens Sagittarius with Xiǎoxuě, “minor snow”, and sets Dàxuě, “major snow”, at 15° Sagittarius, where the month of the Rat (zǐ) begins.

Origin and history

Babylonian astronomers saw here the archer god Pabilsag, drawn as a winged centaur with a bow; the Greeks made him Toxotēs, the Archer, a centaur with his bow drawn towards the Scorpion’s heart. In the old doctrine of planetary houses, Sagittarius is Jupiter’s day house and Pisces its night house.

The centre of our galaxy lies in the direction of these stars, at about 27° of the sign. By the boundaries astronomers published in 1930, the December solstice point left the constellation Capricornus for Sagittarius in the 2nd century BC, and the Sun now crosses Sagittarius from about 18 December to 20 January.

How Ulune calculates it

A body is in Sagittarius from 240° to 270° of tropical longitude, measured from the March equinox point. In the dignity table Jupiter holds its domicile here; no planet is exalted or in fall, and Mercury is in detriment. The triplicity rulers are the Sun by day, Jupiter by night and Saturn participating, after Dorotheus; the terms run Jupiter to 12°, Venus to 17°, Mercury to 21°, Saturn to 26° and Mars to 30°, and the faces are Mercury, the Moon and Saturn. The readings’ decans are those of Sagittarius, Aries and Leo, ruled by Jupiter, Mars and the Sun.

Correspondences